Experimental study on mechanical properties of weathered rock covered by loess

Based on dynamic triaxial test, the mechanical properties of the weathered rock covered by loess were studied. The cohesion value of weathered mudstone is far below that of the weathered sandstone, while the internal friction angle values are basically equivalent, about 30°. Compared with the undisturbed sample, the cohesion value of remodeling weathered rock sample decreases significantly. With the increase of moisture content, the strength of weathered mudstone is obviously decreased due to the influence of the water softening effect. This results illustrate that the bearing stratum is not easily affected by external disturbance in comparison to weathered mudstone. In the engineering, in order to ensure the good mechanical properties of the soil, more attention should be paid to keeping the water content constant, even to reducing the water content. The experiments show that the relations between shear stress and strain of weathered rock were nonlinear and the behavior of weathered rock can be expressed by the hyperbolic model. The initial modulus of undisturbed weathered rock, under the same consolidation conditions, is much greater than that of remodeling samples. Meanwhile, the initial dynamic elastic modulus of sandstone is also greater than that of the mudstone. The dynamic shear modulus ratios of the undisturbed sandstone, the undisturbed mudstone, as well as the remodeling mudstone have the normalization characteristics with the increase of dynamic shear strain. The damping ratio of mudstone is larger than that of the sandstone, and the damping ratio of remolding sample is also greater than that of the undisturbed mudstone. The mudstone has the bad mechanical properties as bearing stratum.